Hon. Senators, I would like to acknowledge the presence in the Public Gallery this afternoon, of visiting teachers and students of History from Patterson Memorial Secondary School in Kajiado County, who are on an academic trip. Hon. Senators, in our usual tradition of receiving and welcoming visitors to Parliament, I extend a warm welcome to them. On behalf of the Senate and my own behalf, I wish them a fruitful visit. I thank you. Proceed, Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank you for giving me this opportunity, to join you in welcoming students from Kajiado County. This is a very opportune and good moment for an academic trip. I know there are so many students in this Republic who have never even related with the legislative arm of Government. Their coming here will be memorable. Parliament constitutes the National Assembly and the Senate. The Senate plays a major role when it comes to legislation. The Senate has a salient role in ensuring that it represents the interests of the counties. This means that even the County of Kajiado is ably represented here by its Senators. When it comes to any matters that concern the county - whether legislative, personal, representation and all that - the Senate is usually very key in ensuring that there is service delivery in the counties. Senate plays a major role in ensuring that money is allocated and disbursed to the counties so that services are delivered to everyone. That way, every citizen should be able to enjoy Article 43 of the Constitution, which stipulates that everybody should be able to

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get the highest attainable standards of health, clean water and education. It is very important for them to be here. They should also know that the Senate plays a major role in ensuring that Bills are passed. The Bills that the Senate passes help the common mwananchi . That is our business. As the students go back to school they should know that they are exercising their roles as citizens, when they elect Senators to come and represent them in the Senate. I wish the students a good time as they engage with the Senate and see how we come up with laws. I also thank the teachers for ensuring that both boys and girls are here. We encourage education for both boys and girls. Education is very important for leadership of a country. I urge the students to work hard in their academics. I know that some of them are aspiring to be here. Yes, it is possible for you to be here. We were where you are once upon a time. We had a vision of being here and that is why we are here. Have your vision burning and at the right time, you will find yourselves here or in a Government position where you are able to lead this country into greater heights. You are most welcome.

Proceed, Sen. Shiyonga.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to join you in welcoming the students form Kajiado County. The students and teachers are most welcome to visit the Senate. It is a House of respect. I know most of you aspire to be here. You might be seeing empty seats this time round but I know you understand because you are in Kenya. We are in a campaign period whereby most of the Members are in the campaign mood. They are out there in the field trying to defend their seats. Some of us make the effort of coming here so that the House business can continue. Feel most welcome. I know many of you aspire to come here when you grow up. I urge you to continue with your education, especially the girls. As you can see, we are here representing our counties. I urge all of you including the boys, that this House is open for Kenyans. It is a House that exercises its mandate to legislate. This is especially in protecting our counties including your schools. I urge you to be disciplined. Please cooperate with your teachers and work hard in your studies if you are looking forward to a good and easier life. When you end up here, you will be more disciplined. You will come up with legislation, Bills and polices that will guide this country. You will enjoy staying in Kenya and making Kenya a good country for you. Thank you very much teachers and students again. Welcome again even in the next Senate that will be there.

Hon. Lusaka): Thank you so much. Next order.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I beg to lay the following Petition Report on the Table of the Senate today 14th June, 2022. The Report of the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare on a Petition to the Senate concerning the recruitment and remuneration of Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers in Nyamira and Uasin Gishu Counties. On behalf of the Chairperson, I beg to lay.

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Hon. Lusaka): Next Order. Senate Majority Leader, you may proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate today 14th June, 2022. Report of the Standing Committee on Tourism Trade and Industrialization on the SACCO Societies (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bills. No.55 of 2021).

Mr. Speaker Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate, today 14th June 2022. Annual Report and Financial Statements for Capital Markets Authority for the Financial Year 2020/21. I thank you.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate today 14th of June 2022. Report of the Sessional Committee on Delegated Legislation on its Consideration of the Public Finance Management, National Government (amendment) Regulations (Legal Notice No.89 of 2022) on variation of public debt ceiling. I thank you.

Hon. Lusaka): Next Order.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to give notice that the Senate adopts the report of the Sessional Committee on Delegated Legislation on the consideration of the Public Finance Management, National Government (Amendment) Regulations (Legal Notice No.89 of 2022) laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday 14th of June 2022. And that pursuant to the provisions of Section 50(2) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015, the Senate approves the amendments to the Public Finance Management National Government Regulations 2015; principal regulations as effected through Legal Notice No. 89 of 2022; thus, varying the public debt ceiling to an amount not exceeding Kshs10 trillion. I thank you.

Hon. Lusaka): Next Order. Okay. I will reschedule the Order Paper. For the convenience of the House, let us skip Order No.8 and go to Order No.9. Sen. Farhiya, proceed.

Sen. Farhiya, it is Order No.9.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. I beg to move the following Motion- THAT, the Senate adopts the Report of the Standing Committee on Finance and Budget on the County Governments Additional Allocations Cash Disbursement Schedule for the Financial Year 2021/2022 and approval of the County Governments Additional Allocations Cash Disbursement Schedule for the Financial Year 2021/2022 laid on the Table of the Senate on Wednesday, 8th June, 2022, and that pursuant to Section 17 (7) of the Public Finance Management Act and Standing Order 183 (3), the Senate approves the County Governments Additional Allocations Cash Disbursement Schedule for Financial Year 2021/2022 Mr. Speaker, Sir, pursuant to Section 17(6) and (7) of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012, the County Governments Additional Allocations Cash Disbursement Schedule is submitted to the Senate by the National Treasury. The Cash

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Disbursement Schedule ensures predictable, timely money transfer and flow of funds to the respective County Revenue Fund (CRF). Consequently, it enables counties to undertake crucial functions in the delivery of services to the citizens. The County Governments Additional Allocations Cash Disbursement Schedule is the key Senate resolution to operationalise the release and transfer of approved allocations as per the Annual Cash Additional Allocation, Act 2022. The County Governments Additional Allocations Cash Disbursement Schedule for the Financial Year 2021/2022, was submitted to the Senate by the National Treasury pursuant to Section 17 of the PFM Act, 2012 and tabled in the Senate on the 19th May, 2022. Mr. Speaker, Sir, upon tabling, the Schedule was committed to the Committee of Finance and Budget for consideration and subsequent reporting back to the House. The Schedule outlines the additional allocation finance from the National Government share of revenue, to county governments for the Financial Year 2021/2022 amounting to Kshs332 million excluding Kshs7.2 billion for leasing medical equipment. The schedule contains the disbursement of the supplement for the construction of county headquarters to the eligible five county governments. The counties receiving the supplement for the construction of headquarters are Isiolo County, Kshs68 million, Lamu County, Kshs38 million, Nyandarua County, Kshs75 million, Tana River County, Kshs75 million, and, Tharaka Nithi County, Kshs76 million. The second Schedule outlines the disbursement of additional allocation from the proceeds of loans and grants and the development partners totaling to Kshs27.74 billion. The allocation comprises of (a) Additional conditional allocation financed by World Bank, to finance the transforming health system for Universal Health Care (UHC) project amounting to Kshs2.234 billion. (b) Additional conditional allocation financed by World Bank credit, to finance the national agriculture and rural inclusive growth project amounting to Kshs6.395 billion. (c) Additional allocation financed by World Bank, to finance the climate change smart agriculture project, amounting to Kshs7.838 billion. (d) Additional allocation from European Union grant to finance instruments to devolution advise and support, amounting to Kshs230 million. (e) Additional allocation from World Bank credit, to finance water and sanitation development project amounting to Kshs5 billion. (f) Additional conditional allocation by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) grant, to finance the primary healthcare in devolved context amounting to Kshs701 million. (g) Additional conditional allocation financed by the Government of Sweden, to finance the agriculture sector development support programme 2 amounting to Kshs1.3 billion. (h) Additional conditional allocation financed by German Development Bank, to finance the drought resilience programme in Northern Kenya amounting to Kshs370 million.

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(i) Additional conditional allocation financed by World Bank, to finance the emergency locust response project amounting to Kshs800 million. (j) Additional conditional allocation financed by World Bank, to finance the Kenya informal settlement improvement project II amounting to Kshs2.8 billion. (k) Additional conditional allocation financed by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) amounting to Kshs73 million. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is proposed that the allocation to counties is to be disbursed between May and June as outlined in the Schedule. I am sure you understand there was a delay in processing of this Bill between the Senate and the National Assembly. Everybody knows the history, which then occasioned the delay. During the consideration of the Cash Disbursement Schedule, the Committee observed that the Cash Disbursement Schedule for the additional allocation to counties, is being considered in May and yet the Schedule indicates that they were to be disbursed by 15th May. The Committee on Finance and Budget recommends that: 1. The county allocation Cash Disbursement Schedule be approved as tabled on 19th May, 2022. Noting that the time remaining for the Financial Year is less than a month. The National Treasury should fast-track the disbursement of Exchequer issues provided in the Act. As I conclude, the Committee acknowledges the contribution of the stakeholders who ensure the Cash Grant Additional Allocation Act 2022 was approved and consequently smoothly executed by the county government budget. I appreciate and thank the members of the Committee for their patience, sacrifice and commitment to the assigned task within the stipulated time. I also wish to thank the secretariat who are always helpful to ensure that the committees function successfully. I beg to move and request Sen. Faki to second.

Bw. Spika, nasimama kuunga mkono Ripoti ya Kamati ya Fedha ambayo imewasilishwa katika Bunge la Seneti mchana wa leo na Sen. Farhiya ambaye ni Mheshimiwa wa kamati hio. Asante, Bw. Spika.

(Hon. Lusaka)

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank you, for this opportunity. I have seen in the Order Paper the charge schedule allocations from the Equalization Fund from the marginalized areas for the FY2022/2023 and there is cash disbursement that has been given. Nandi County stands to benefit up to a tune of around Kshs158,000,000 – Kshs200,000,000. Although counties have not closed down, they are existing in perpetuity. It is important that we process this because the counties cannot move at the moment. They need those resources. I hope as we push for cash disbursement schedule as it has been moved by our Deputy Chief Whip, we do not expect this money to be misused especially at this time. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are aware that some incumbent governors who are defending their seats can go and use this money to brand county vehicles. I saw a governor who is running for Senator from North Eastern 103 vehicles using county resources. We were

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shocked as a country. I know Sen. Farhiya might be aware of the governor because she comes from that region. We are pushing this cash disbursement because the schools are on. We want our children to be issued with bursary. We would like to have our roads made, especially where I come from, it is the rainy season. Our farmers cannot take their milk and produce to the market because of the poor state of the roads. This is a warning to the incumbent governors. I hope the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is watching. No incumbent governor should be allowed to fund any political activities from either side. As we prepare for the Sine Die of the Senate and prepare for the third generation of the Senate to come into place, these are some of the issues that should be looked into. When a governor appears before the County Public Accounts and Investment Committee (CPAIC), they say they did not collect own source revenue because it was a political year. We are aware of that monkey business. You cannot tell us that Kenyans are not paying taxes, cess and levies. When governors appear in 2023 before the CPAIC Committee, they will tell you that that year, the own source revenue went down because at that time there was political activities. However, when you go around this city and even in Kapsabet, Kenyans are paying for those levies. They are paying for cess fees. They are paying for the money. Why is it that the governors find it convenient to say that the own source revenue went down because of political activities? The Senate must refuse such explanations. We have never heard of such excuses from the national Government when they appear before our sister, the National Assembly. That is my second point. My third point is that, I know there are governors who are serving their second and final term when their audit reports are not ready and they are now the ones spending this cash disbursement that we are passing today. We need to ensure that the Auditor- General, the Controller of Budget, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and other agencies must be on the look out. As a people, we do not want legacy projects of individuals to be from proceeds of looting the county. There are people who are second term governors who imagine that since they are serving the second and final term, they do not owe anybody any duty. To be honest, I was reluctant in the passage of this cash disbursement because we are not sure of where it will go. That is our worry. I am told even some governors are using the cash disbursement that we are giving them to fund their own political parties and their candidates. We know governors who own political parties. I know the governor of our Senate Majority Leader has a political party and he is using the same cash disbursement that we are giving. How can you brand a government vehicle? IEBC is sitting on the job. How can you brand a vehicle that is supposed to belong to the county? I know that Bungoma County is also facing similar challenges. There are cases where the governors are threatening the employees by telling them that they will not pay them salaries if they do not vote for them. We need to protect our people. In Nandi County, a number of the county employees did not support the governor during party primaries and so he has stopped their salaries. Where are we going as a nation?

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There are many threats from governors, especially those who are incumbent and who own political parties. That they are using the money that we are giving here, money that belongs to our people for political campaigns. If a governor wants money for their political activities, they should fundraise. The law allows candidates to fund raise. The IEBC and other agencies must be on the look out on misuse and abuse of public resources for the campaigns. Let our children get bursary and medicine. As I conclude, when you go to many hospitals, there are no drugs and the ambulances are grounded. It is like during campaign season, the governors have given the county employees memos to leave their offices to go and campaign for them. During nominations, some of the employees within county governments were Presiding Officers and Returning Officers yet there is no medicine in hospital. There are no roads and somebody somewhere is using resources. They must be flagged out.How can you take a county vehicle, put the fuel card at a petrol station and use that vehicle to campaign? When I saw that governor from North Eastern branding 103 vehicles including those that belong to the county assembly, I was shocked. We cannot sit and allow this to happen. If the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) are functional, they should ensure that such governors are held accountable and banned from running for any office.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, some of the people who the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has banned from running are being accused of misusing and abusing county resources. I appeal to politicians who have Government vehicles or are exposed to Government resources. They might find it convenient to use county or national resources but woe unto them. From 10th August--- Article 226(5) of the Constitution talks about personal liability. I also want to challenge my colleagues in leadership. Be careful even as you hold those offices and use vehicles that belong to the Parliament of Kenya. Do not use them in campaigns because you might use them conveniently now, but in future, you will be accountable. That is my appeal. I am not saying it in bad faith, but we must set an example as a House, that you can use your own resources without necessarily misusing and abusing state resources. I can see that the Deputy Speaker, the Senate Deputy Majority Whip and the Senate Majority Leader, who are part of the House leadership, are in concurrence with me. Everybody is in concurrence that we should not abuse and misuse public resources. I hope it goes to other Government officials, governors and people who hold executive offices in this Republic. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will think about this Motion because I do not know if money can be used to finish some of us politically yet we are busy. Nowadays you can pass a Bill or Motion that money should go to the counties but when you go to the village, you may find that they have hired hecklers to heckle you. So, I do not know, unless the Senate Majority Leader convinces me otherwise. I thank you.

The Senate Majority Leader, you may use this time to convince your neighbour.

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Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank you for the opportunity, not just to respond to my neighbour, but also contribute to the debate on the Additional Allocations Cash Disbursement Schedule for FY 2021/2022. I thank Sen. Farhiya who has ably moved it and Sen. Faki for seconding. I want to assure colleagues that this is an important Bill to enable us send money to our counties. The money is not part of the County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA). This is additional money in form of conditional grants from other sources and they are good for the counties. The good thing, which Sen. Cherargei should probably think about, is that these monies are sent for specific functions. For example, we have some counties that have county headquarters to build like Isiolo, Lamu, Nyandarua, Tana River and Tharaka Nithi. That money is specifically for building county headquarters. We also need to realise that Equalisation Funds have specific functions because they go directly to the areas of operation. Even within the county, they go down to sublocations where they are required. Therefore, I suggest that we pass this Bill. Let us give it priority because the money is overdue. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to allay fears about the governors. Governors who are waiting to use the money for elections and so on will not get the opportunity to do so, partly because processes take time, elections are coming and everyone is now careful. They will be unable to use the funds on their own things. I agree with the Senator who said that constitutional organs of this country, including the IEBC, need to be on the lookout for any of the businesses that some of them are waiting for. Some want to give themselves retirement benefits, yet they already have that budgeted for. I urge Members that we proceed to vote for this because I know very soon we will do another disbursement schedule. Maybe we will worry about that a bit, but this one is specific for particular functions.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I am a stickler to detail. I am looking at what has been presented to us for debate here but I cannot see a schedule that shows the amount of money that is supposed to go to the counties.

Sen. Cherargei, if you listen, you might learn something because I do not stand up just for the sake of it. If you look at the Supplementary Order Paper, on page 1332, there is a Schedule there. However, I have never seen a title like Conditional Allocation to County Governments from National Government Revenue in Financial Year 2022/2023. First, that title is misleading because the title for that Bill was changed. It was indicated that it is additional allocations and not conditional allocations.

I am told there is a copy that they are running. Therefore, that should address the problem.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, as we address that, there are a couple of issues that I want clarified.

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First, this table here shows figures for two Financial Years; 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. I can read mischief here because we only have about 15 days to the end of the financial year. Do we expect this money to go to the counties within the next 15 days, or is this money being bundled up to be sent in the next financial year, which in this case, if you listen to the submissions that were made by my colleague Sen. Cherargei, then of course the children will not benefit? Mr. Speaker, Sir, before we proceed, can this be made clearer? I know the Senate Majority Leader wants to rush this so that we are done with it, which I completely agree. However, as we do that, can we debate items that have the correct title? This is Supplementary Order Paper No.43 of Tuesday 14th June, 2022 but it has a wrong title. Before we proceed with debate, can we correct that? Can the Senate Majority Leader, who is the Mover, clarify this? For example, I can see the amount of money, which is supposed to go to Narok and Kajiado counties. However, how sure am I that this money will be sent during this financial year, or it will be bundled up for the next financial year? Mr. Speaker, Sir, before we proceed further, I will be happy if that is clarified.

What is being discussed is different from what you are raising.

Sen. Olekina, kindly approach the Chair.

Senate Majority Leader, please proceed as we work out some logistics.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, everything will be fine. My colleague, Sen. Olekina, should be patient enough for him to get the right information. He does not look patient at the moment. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I was busy congratulating. As I was saying, it is disconcerting to know that, as it has been raised - although I do not know how much of it is correct - some of the governors are using county resources to campaign. If they are doing that, there are many constitutional offices and organs who are watching. I am sure that they will reach out and deal with those governors. I know they are already watching Members of Parliament (MPs). They should watch everybody including the governors.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir.

What is your point of order, Sen. Shiyonga?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, my colleague has said that organs are watching. However, for how long have they been watching while these funds are being misused and Kenyans are suffering? If those organs are useless, let us just say they are watching in a more useless way because they have been watching---. It is sad.

Order Senators, are you engaging in allegations that have no basis?

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Let us not discuss it because we do not have any evidence that any governor has used county government money to campaign. Why are we escalating something that we do not have evidence on?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, everyone will have a chance to speak to this particular report. I assure the hon. Senator that she should contribute because there was nothing out of order in my presentation in that case.

Let me allay the fears because the financial year is coming to an end in a few days. Therefore, those who fear that this money will be misused have to relax that there will be no money disbursed after the financial year is done. We hope that the money for one financial year or two will be safe and will be used properly when you are either governor or Senator in the next dispensation. I support and ask Members to vote and support this particular document so that monies can be disbursed for additional allocation.

Sen. Olekina, are you comfortable or you want to read the document? Should I give somebody else a chance so that you contribute once you have read?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker for this opportunity. From the onset, I would like to support this Motion on the Report of the Standing Committee on Finance and Budget on the County Government Additional Allocation Cash Disbursement Schedule for the Financial Year 2021/2022. Before I give my submissions, I would like to recognize and encourage young students from Kajiado. I like the teachers that brought them to the Senate to see the kind of things that we discuss here. After this submission, I hope I will meet and talk to them in detail. They have an opportunity to defend this country. We are all Christians or Muslims in this House. If you read the Book of Ecclesiastes, it talks about vanity. When the preacher was talking about David, it talked about generations that will come and go but this world remains. Currently, these students are alive to the fact that the Masaais of Tanzania who have their relatives in Kenya are being terrorised, stigmatized, subjected to extremist measures and their existence is in jeopardy yet we talk about having the East African Community(EAC). For the last seven days, I have been lobbying people from our neighbouring countries. We talk about having the EAC. What is the point of us having it when our neighbours and relatives are crying and we continue to pretend that we do not know the challenges they are facing? Mr. Speaker, Sir, these students---

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker Sir.

What is your point of order?

Mr. Speaker, Sir I am on a point of order on relevance. Sen. Olekina is one of the best Senators on this Floor. I empathize and sympathize with what is happening in Tanzania against the Tanzanian Maasais’. I thought he can move a

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Motion of Adjournment so that we can discuss such crisis. However, we are just discussing about cash disbursement. I sympathize and empathize with him but on the point of relevance---

It is true. Sen Olekina, stick to what is before us.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will stick to relevance when relevance demands that I stick to relevance. From the onset, I gave a disclaimer that I will contribute to the cash disbursement schedule but the first thing is to talk to the young men and women who are seated in this Parliament to understand some of the things that we do here. I was in the middle of my submission. My colleague from the other side of the aisle should have been patient enough to listen to what I am saying. The young men and women who are here are a different generation. We want to leave this country a better place that we found it. When we are gone and the fact that they are young, they will also contribute to this county. Earlier on, my colleague was talking about the dangers of this cash being disbursed and governors misappropriating them. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with all due respect, my colleague should have been patient enough to understand where my line of thought is. As I continue to contribute to this matter, I retaliate on the importance of the EAC because every cent or dollar that we contribute and sent to counties does work that can benefit the EAC. The amount of money that we are talking about here, if I can be specific, this are additional allocation of funds that are supposed to assist hospitals and roads. There are roads and hospitals that ought to be build. We need Level four and five hospitals in places like Loita, Naivera or Namanga, which is on the boarder of Kenya and Tanzania. So, when we have an unrest either in Tanzania or in Kenya, it will affect us. It is not a secret that people from Tanzania cross to Kenya to be treated. Neither is it a secret that Kenyans too cross the boarders to Tanzania to be treated. When I raise the concern of our people being stigmatized, extremist measures, when we have 31 people, we are talking about conditional allocation. This money is an additional allocation. Specifically, if you look at the figures that have been given to Narok, that money is for hospitals and for roads. We cannot hide from the fact that some of us migrated from Tanzania and moved into this country. If they are suffering there, it is an issue that all of us should know of and be concerned about. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as they proceed, I want to encourage the young men and women and their teacher to pay attention to what is happening even in the debate in this House. This is because, today we are talking about sending additional allocation. First, there is a genesis as to why the Bill was converted to additional allocation and my good friend from the other side of the isle would benefit when I tell him that when it was conditional grants, the county governments were saying that the Senate does not have any mandate to oversight on that money. I am raising issues, which are pertinent. This is because, when we talk about allocation of revenue to counties, this year, we are discussing about money that will be send to county governments for next financial year. However, it is a bit hypocritical for us to discuss additional allocation that is going on this year.

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That money should have been disbursed in the first quarter considering the amount of money that we are talking about now is almost---

There is a point of intervention from Sen. Farhiya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I wanted to clarify to the Senator of Narok, Sen. Olekina that this cash disbursement schedule is for the current financial year and not the next one. Additional grants can be in two folds: conditional and unconditional. That is why they are referred to as additional grants whether conditional or unconditional. It is conditional when it is given by donors and when, for example, it is given as a share of revenue from the national Government, then it is unconditional grant. Therefore, the combination of the two is additional grants.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, my colleague from the other side did not really have anything to clarify because I was very clear. My concern was one that right now we are discussing about sending money to county governments when the financial year has lapsed. The Senate Majority Leader has just said that the financial year is coming to an end in a few days. I am giving a clear comparison on when we talked about the revenue that was being sent to county governments. What is in the Order Paper is for the financial year 2022/2023. It is a bit hypocritical for us for the additional allocation because this House and the National Assembly involved in their own sibling rivalry took a long time to be able to agree on a particular way to name the Bill. These are the facts and it is important that people understand that this money, which we are now talking about sending it to the county governments, may not even benefit the counties. If you now bring in the argument and say that these are conditional grants, these grants are very specific. They are conditional and are given on a draw-down system. They must be spent in a particular financial year. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will invite you to look at the Order Paper for today and that is why I sought clarity in the beginning. Today’s Order Paper gives a table for two financial years that is taking about a billion Kenya Shillings to Narok County. That will be money that should have been sent this year and next year. It is imperative for us to be cognizant of the fact that the way we dilly-dally and the amount of time we waste in agreeing in passing legislation affects how projects are done on the ground. It is my prayer that the National Treasury will find it in their hearts to disburse this money before the financial year is over. If they disburse that money, I share the same sentiments as my colleagues that county governors should spend it in a way that is meant to benefit everybody. The money we are talking about here should have paid for hospitals. There are stories we hear on the ground and sometimes we go to hospitals where there are no drugs and level II hospitals have not been built. If I am able to read this, for Narok County there is Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) funds of about Kshs17million. There is Sweden – Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme (ASDSP) II of Kshs30 million and United National Environment Programme (UNEP) of Kshs7million. The other money is for Devolution Support Programme which is about Kshs398 million.

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In reality, this money may not be consumed this financial year. I hope the money is held in the County Revenue Fund(CRF) and when Treasury disburses it at that particular time, the conditions given by the donor agencies would not have lapsed. I hope the new governments coming in - Mr. Speaker, Sir, this applies to you as well in a different way if God may be kind enough to make you the new Governor of Bungoma. There is no way that this money is going to be spent by the current governors. It is going to be spent by the new Governors coming in. I know my colleagues are afraid that the Governors are going to spend this money to campaign, let them do it. Even if they do it, Kenyans who are suffering now and have got no drugs in the hospitals or good roads should ask themselves one question: should we continue getting all these handouts that we are getting or should we question the source of these funds? People will continue suffering. Unless you are beaten and you have been caused to bleed there is no way you are going to---. In Maasai language we say; nkiiri name nincheshoi naikaja, naningisho. I will translate. Unless you are made to suffer---

Order Senator.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, Standing Orders allow me to use a phrase and translate it.

Which Standing Order is this?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, If the Senate Majority Leader does not know the Standing Orders allow me to take the book and I will tell you the exact one.

Senator, just admit that you do not know it off head, so that we proceed.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, when I know something is true, I will say it. I will not withdraw that because you can use a phrase and translate it. The Clerk is nodding because it is true. There is a Standing Order that talks about language; that the Senator shall debate in the language they started with to the end. Let us get back to the other important things we were talking about. I reiterate on the importance of these additional grants.

What is your point of order, Sen. Cherargei?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, Standing Order No.87 says: (1) All proceedings of the Senate shall be conducted in Kiswahili, English or in Kenyan Sign Language. (2) A Senator who begins a speech in any of the languages provided for under paragraph (1) shall continue in the same language until the conclusion of the Senator’s speech. Sen. Olekina should be listening carefully because we do not want him to come back here as a second term Senator and these things escape him. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I request that Sen. Olekina withdraws that phrase and apologizes to the House because it contravenes Standing Order No. 87. He cannot mislead the nation, the House and more so, students from his county by telling them that you can use this language, switch and then translate. It does not exist in the Standing Orders.

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Which Standing Order were you quoting?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, this House relies on records and it sets precedence. I have sat here when other distinguished Senators have used a phrase and translated it.

Is it in the Standing Orders?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is in the Standing Orders.

Which one, Senator?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, give me 24 hours and I will come back with it. In the Maasai language, we have a saying that: Meningisho nkiri nememe. It means that unless you are inflicted some wounds and pain, you will never listen. Kenyans out there ought to make the right decision. We are sending a lot of money to the counties.

Look at this Senate today. The people present here and those on-line are pastoralists who want money to be sent to their counties. I am glad we have Sen. Cherargei. I am one of the pastoralists of course. We want money to be sent to our hospitals. We also have people from the coast region who are also our brothers. We want them to get this money though the Blue Economy that is different.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, to summarize my submissions, I do hope that the National Treasury will able to expedite. This Bill does not need to go back to the National Assembly. This will go straight to the President to be assented to. This money can really help. If this money is not disbursed this year, we have got colleagues here who are running to become governors. Sen. (Dr.) Ali and the Speaker, we wish you all the best. When you get there, use the money wisely. Finally, I call upon all the presidents of the East African Community (EAC) not to turn a blind eye to what is happening to the Maasais right now in Tanzania. That is something that will continue entrenching colonial tendencies into this country and we cannot allow it. We have to respect communities. We have to ensure that even if I have land and you do not have---

Order, Senator.

This is something very painful. I hope---

Order, Sen. Olekina. Senator, we empathize and sympathize with our brothers over there but, like you quoted Ecclesiastics, there is a time for everything.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, you did not let me finish.

With due respect, it is because you were being irrelevant, Sen. Olekina.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me finish.

No, you do not have to finish because you are being irrelevant as per our Standing Orders. Proceed, Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve. Sen. Olekina, your time is up.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I must confess that when Sen. Olekina was speaking on the Floor of this House I got confused because I thought we were looking at the Motion that Sen. Farhiya brought to the Floor of this House. It was very clear that the money was to be disbursed to five counties; that is Isiolo, Lamu,

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Nyandarua, Tana River and Tharaka Nithi. That is what I heard. The counties mentioned were very specific. It was not the 47 counties and ---

What is your point of intervention Sen. Cherargei?

Mr. Speaker, Sir, Sen. Farhiya wants to explain something.

He is on the Floor. It is a point of Order.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, what Sen. Olekina has done is not good for the Senate. It is important that we set the record straight. We do not want to run afoul with our neighboring countries. When you look at Standing Order No.96, it talks about the content of speeches. It states as follows: “Neither the personal conduct of the President, nor the conduct of the Speaker or any Judge, nor the judicial conduct of any other person performing judicial functions, nor any conduct of the Head of State or government (we are discussing the Tanzanian government) or the representative in Kenya of any friendly country or the conduct of the holder of an office whose removal from such office is dependent upon the decision of the Senate shall be referred to adversely, except upon a specific substantive Motion of which at least three days’ notice has been given.” So that I know the Tanzanian Government is watching and you serving as a senior civil servant in this Republic, it is not fair to discuss the issues of another country on this Floor before there is a proper Motion. Therefore, it is important that we set the record straight so that our Tanzanian brothers and sisters do not imagine that the Senate of the Republic of Kenya was in any way having a discussion on the situation in Tanzania without a proper Motion before this House. Therefore, I wanted to underscore your ruling and support what you have just indicated that the Standing Orders of the Senate have provided a crystal-clear process on such. We empathize and sympathize with what is happening to the Maasais of Tanzania but there is a proper channel on how those issues can be handled and be discussed at a different level. I wish Sen. Olekina could take the advice and not go in that direction.

I think it has been overtaken by events. It was something he mentioned in passing and I stopped him. Therefore, let us proceed. What is your point of order, Sen. (Dr.) Ali?

In the same light, Sen. Cherargei should not have discussed that when the Sen. concerned has already left. He is also out of order in that sense.

Let us proceed. We only have three days to go. Let us use our time in a more productive way. Proceed, Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Indeed, allocation of conditional grants is important to the said counties but there is need to see to it that this money is used appropriately. Since we have got a month or two to go, I am wondering whether this money will be used as it is supposed to. Even when money is disbursed, there is also the process of procuring the agents who are going to do the work and completing the work. I am wondering whether this money will be used for the intended purpose because of the short time available.

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There is need for the Auditor-General to come in to ensure that this money is used well. Ideally, if the Senate was still in session, the oversight role would be done by the relevant Senators and county executives would come here to explain how the money has been used. However, right now when the Senate will not be there, this money can be misused and the accounting officer may not come out clearly to say how the money was used. Therefore, there is need for the Auditor-General to do proper oversight on it. When it comes to issues of development in the counties, the importance of partners cannot be overlooked. This is because partners come in to ensure that they are helping where the Government is not able to. Therefore, I want to thank the DANIDA, Sweden and the World Bank for coming in to ensure that money is released. Even when the money is released, it must be confirmed that the money is used for the intended purpose. There are many times when money has been sent to some of these counties like North Eastern but you find that there is no indicator to show the progression of the amount of money that has been sent. Sometimes you find that there are still complaints that there are no schools, water and all that yet partners have always been sending money to these counties. There is a need to ensure that even if partners are supporting the Government, the money is used prudently and is accounted for. If it is not accounted for, then Kenyans in North Eastern need to petition whenever money is not used wisely. There is a need for the Auditor-General to do an intensive follow-up to ensure that this money from the donors and Government is used prudently when it goes to counties. I thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to support this Motion on the Adoption of the Report on the Approval of the County Government Fund. I only have two points to make because we have heard much from my colleagues. It is important that these funds are disbursed within the period that we are here or the coming government. It is important that these funds are used for their intended purpose. We have discovered that many county governments are misusing these conditional grants. I am urging that the current Government and the incoming Government to utilize the funds appropriately. We have seen funds being reallocated for other uses, personal use or money being misused. When these grants are being committed to our government, it is government money meant for Kenyans and not for personal gain. We have seen county governments colluding with the accounts departments of their own governments to misuse this money or reallocate it for personal use. As my colleagues have said, some are even using this money to finance their personal tours. We want this money to be used for the intended purpose. Senate is here because it wants development to be done in the county government.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are here to protect the interests of Kenyans. However, we have seen nepotism in the award of tenders that are being given in the county governments, even with the funds from grants. You find that only the family, a few friends or relatives of the ‘who is who’ in that particular county government are getting the tenders.

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County governments are misusing funds. We are watching and looking at you knowing that those leadership positions will not last forever. We are coming for you. We will support the institutions that are not working and make sure they work. If any county government or governor is misusing these funds for their personal interests, we will just name and shame them. You will find someone has built a mansion worth billions of shillings using these grants, only to realise that the money is coming from these conditional grants. Grants are given for free by partners or donors. Even if county governments utilise these grants, it is just a small fraction of the money. I have personally seen many elected leaders misusing these grants. I call upon Kenyans who will vote this year to sack those corrupt leaders who misuse grants that come to county governments. This money belongs to the Kenyans. I urge Kenyans to choose their leaders wisely. We want able leaders who will put this money into right use. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we see people making huge profits and interests out of this money. We elect poor people who come to this Parliament or those offices and become rich within short time. Within a month, they get billions of shillings. Some have never seen billions and when they get it, they misuse it. I call upon the relevant institutions to do their work. I know we impeach governors here, but if these institutions do not do their work, we will need to introduce a Motion to impeach Members of Parliament (MPs) and county government officers who misuse these grants. This money is not meant for their personal or family use. When a development partner identifies any issue in a county, they donate these funds.

It is important that when we go to vote, let us vote the right leaders who will put this money into right use. If we do so, these funds will get to the right person who will then use it in the right way, for the right people and for the right purpose.

I support.

Let us now listen to Sen. (Dr.) Langat.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me the chance to support this Motion on the County Governments Additional Allocation of Funds.

If you visit our counties today, you cannot believe the challenges affecting them. This is especially on pending bills and the lack of drugs in the hospital. I sat in the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee. I was surprised that even when county governments have funds, they have not paid pending bills right from 2016/2017 Financial Year.

In as much as we would like to support these additional allocations, we still have many of problems in our counties. I am worried that at this particular time of campaigns, some malicious governors might end up misusing these funds.

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Otherwise, our counties are in dire need of these funds at this particular time when there are many challenges. People in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) do not have food. It is high time this Senate debated strongly on the area of oversight. The Senate is not directly in connection with the oversight activities in the field. The County Public Accounts and Investments Committee relies heavily on the Auditor-General’s audit report. More often than not, these reports delay. When I was in this Committee, I was surprised that we were still dealing with issues of 2015/1016 Financial Year. The current Senate has not fully oversighted the money that we have been disbursing from that point.

The next Senate will need to reinforce their oversight activities. This is with reference to the oversight fund, to enable the Senate to oversight activities in counties.

I also thought that we spend much of our time in the Senate, unlike the German Senate, which spends a few days in the Senate. Most of the time, they are in the field doing oversight activities for their counties. As Senators, we are mostly here and our work has become more theoretical than practical. Villagers have understood that we are the agents of oversight. While going round during campaigns, some of us were shown several projects that have never been completed by the county governments.

Finally, in as much as we are supporting the disbursement of these funds to our counties, governors should spend it prudently. They should not use it for campaigns. This money should be used to clear pending bills and complete unfinished projects.

I support this Motion.

Let us now listen to Sen. (Dr.) Mwaura.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. This being the third last day of the Third Senate of the 12th Parliament, and it is important that we celebrate the great work that we have done. This includes the Disbursement Schedule that is before the House. This is the Schedule that we have been using as a tool to guide how much every county has been getting. This Senate shall be remembered for the ten weeks that we haggled about the allocation. It was a very interesting moment. My good friend, Sen. Farhiya and I, were in the Committee on Finance and Budget and there were some casualties there. The Senator for Wajir County, Sen. (Eng.) Mahamud, was the Chairperson and I was the Vice Chairperson. Of course, the country was looking at the Senate. Very famous statements that were made then; ‘one man, one vote, one shilling.’ We also asked the question whether money is shared based on the number of people, the size of the dinner plate. Many other questions were asked. Madam Temporary Speaker, this being the last Schedule for this term of Parliament, it is critical that we look at it properly. I will dwell more on the fact that this Senate has not been able to do two things. First, there is no money for oversight for Senators. This is not money for harambees and what have you. It is money to enable a Senator to monitor the billions that we allocate every year to the counties.

The novelty of our Constitution deliberately took away the Division of Revenue Bill as a money Bill. That was very deliberate. The Senate is not recused from oversighting the very counties that it was created to superintend upon. Therefore, that is something that we

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need to look at. We had an opportunity to discuss this with the Executive. There was some reassurance given, but they have never seen the light of the day. The elephant in the room is that Members of the National Assembly have always feared that if Senators were to be given money for oversight, they will be too powerful, as to threaten their very hegemony that has existed since 1963. I want to say unequivocally that the Senate is here to stay, to play its active role for the benefit of society. Counties are the new frontiers for development. Therefore, any move towards strengthening oversight to ensure people get service delivery is welcome if not already late. I also say without doubt that one of the things that I thought I would have been able to achieve as Sen. (Dr.) Mwaura, is to see that we reinforce some resources, when we are doing County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA) and this Schedule is funds to go to special interest groups. I would have appreciated if it came from here that there should be some specific kitty in every county, at least, a minimum of Kshs100 million for women, youth and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). This is so that when they go to allocate monies at the county assembly, that is the first charge of source. That would have helped a lot because the programming in various counties has not really targeted that. It is just small departments under the Ministry of Social Services and the county executive member in charge of that docket. However, it has not really translated, as it were, into tangible benefits for such groups of people who are marginalized. Even when we have had Acts of county assemblies, they have not been implemented. A very good example is Nairobi County, where there is a Persons with Disability Act that is yet to be implemented. There is another one in Siaya County. There is another one I was working on with the Governor of Vihiga County, Hon. (Dr.) Wilber Otichillo. May he be re-elected if it is possible. People are progressive, but then because of lack of resources, those ideas never get implemented. As the English man said, “You put your money where your mouth is”. The third issue that I would like to comment about this Schedule is the fact that, on average, counties have continued to depend on the equitable share; they depend on the sharable revenue. They have not ensured that they have enough resources from their own revenue. That is something that is not very good because if we all depend on the centre, then it becomes a critical issue. This Senate is supposed to increase the debt ceiling to Kshs10 trillion. I do not know whether it has already happened or it will happen tomorrow. The fact that the first charge of any revenue so collected about Kshs1.6 trillion goes out to counties about Kshs384 billion. With the projection of what we did here, it is guaranteed because what the Government did was to collapse all the conditional grants. Then it requires that counties, as of essence, if their economies are growing, to also increase their kitty. It becomes a very sad reality that the counties collectively are not having enough money equivalent to the defunct local governments. Are we moving forward or retrogressing? Are these revenues becoming the preserve of Governors whom we campaign with, only for them to become millionaires and billionaires? This needs to be put within the ambit of the law.

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One of the things that of course should be done by the next Senate is to ensure that we have the Own Source Revenue Bill. It has not seen the light of the day. That Bill is paramount. It was discussed at the Intergovernmental Relations Committee and also went to the Council of Governors (CoG). However, it has not been passed, so that there are very strict measures about how that is done. We have had that conversation in all the devolution conferences and the legislative summits that we have had. Finally, on this Schedule, I do not know whether it should be released 54 days to the general elections, and whether these moneys will find their way to campaign kitties. If it is done today, will there be Exchequer release? We need to be careful because going forward we must also protect that whoever is going to take over the county governments will also find something in the coffers. We remember very well in the year 2002 when the late H.E. President Mwai Kibaki took over power, there was nothing in the National Treasury. I also want to state that when the Kenya Kwanza Alliance takes over power, on 9th August, 2022 - I can see I have a lot of support from Sen. Faki from Mombasa County - we shall find the granary at the National Treasury full of resources to implement the bottom-up economic model. Madam Temporary Speaker I, support.

I now call upon the Mover to reply.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I beg to reply. I wish to tell Sen. (Dr.) Mwaura to stop dreaming. Dreams are normally just dreams; some are realized while others are not. That one might not be realized, in my view. We are waiting for Baba as the fifth President. I want to clarify something on what Sen. Olekina said, about the Senate and the National Assembly arguing about the naming of a Bill. The naming of the Bill was not the issue. They wanted the Bill be a one-off, so that all the conditional and unconditional grants go under line ministries to be oversighted by the National Assembly. The Senate felt that should not be the case because the mandate of the Senate is to oversight county governments. The monies that are meant to go to the counties would have been threatened because there was no very clear methodology to disburse and allocate the funds. That is why we were fighting with them for this Bill to be an annual bill, just like the CARA and the Division of Revenue Act (DORA). I just wanted to make that clear for record purposes, since it was said in this House that we were arguing on the naming, on whether it should be conditional or additional allocation. Therefore, that matter needs to rest there. I thank the Senators who contributed to this Motion; Sen. Faki for seconding me, Sen. Cherargei, the Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Poghisio, Sen. Olekina, Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve, Sen. Shiyonga, Sen. (Dr.) Langat and last but not least, Sen. (Dr.) Mwaura. The also want to talk about the issue of Governors, as articulated by Sen. Cherargei, threatening the employees of the county government, in that they are supposed to support them, otherwise they would not have their salaries. Kenyans should know that there is the Employment Act, 2007 that was subsequently amended so many times, that protects the rights of employees, whether in counties, private sector or in the National Government. I am telling people out there to ensure that they know their rights and take this governor to court for breaking the law. That is not what they are supposed to do. The

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resources to the counties are not their own money; it is money from the taxpayers. The governors are just among the many taxpayers and so, they cannot harass employees. Sen. Cherargei, you need to advise your people accordingly. Sen. Cherargei has also warned us against using our vehicles to go to the counties. I want to put in the record of this House that the Government vehicle issued to me for three years now has never travelled to Wajir, whether for official function or otherwise, because that is not the reason I was allocated that car. I also want that matter to rest there. Every time I have to travel to Wajir, I use my personal car because it has nothing to do with Senate work I am okay with Sen. Cherargei checking the logbook or any record anywhere. I am sure he will not find anything because I believe in doing what is right and everybody should do the same. I want to put the record straight. I would also like to clarify that additional grants include conditional grants and unconditional grants. Conditional grants mean that money given by donors and the national Government have conditions. If they want county governments to do certain things, maybe because they are devolved functions, they can give funds either conditionally or unconditionally. Most of the donor funding in form of loans and grants normally come with conditions. Therefore, if counties use that money to achieve other objectives other than what they were meant for, then somebody should provide answers. If counties do not use money for what it was meant for, the institutions with the responsibility of ensuring that counties use money accordingly should ensure that they face the full force of the law. Looking at how things are being done, especially by governors, I think we need people like Hon. Raila Amollo Odinga, who is serious about fighting corruption. Kenyans need to elect somebody like him to strengthen governance. Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to reply. Pursuant to Standing Order No. 61(3), I request that putting of the question be deferred to a later date. I thank you.

Since we cannot process that Motion further because of the numbers, as requested by the Senator, that Order is deferred to tomorrow, Wednesday 15th June, 2022.

Hon. Senators, before we move to the next Order, I call upon Sen. Cherargei, on behalf of the Chairperson of the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC), to lay the Papers.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to lay the following Paper on the Table of the Senate, today, Tuesday, 14th June, 2022-

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Volume 1: Report of the Senate Sessional Committee on County Public Accounts and Investments on the Consideration of the audit reports of the following County Executives for the FY 2018/2019 - Nyeri, Tharaka-Nithi, Murang’a, Kitui, Lamu, Siaya, Busia, Meru, Nyamira, Turkana, Makueni, Bungoma and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties. Volume 2: Report of the Senate Sessional Committee on County Public Accounts and Investments on the consideration of the audit reports of the following County Assemblies for the FY 2018/2019 - Bomet, Taita-Taveta, Kilifi, Nyamira and Garissa counties. Volume 3: Report of the Senate Sessional Committee on County Public Accounts and Investments on the consideration of the audit reports of the following County Executives for the FY 2019/2020 – Narok, Kajiado, Kwale, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Turkana, Kericho, Kilifi, Machakos and Kisii counties. I thank you.

Let us go to the next Order.

Let us have Sen. Faki, who is the Chairperson on the Sessional Committee on Delegated Legislation.

Asante Bi. Spika wa Muda. The Public Finance Management

Sen. Faki, you need to move the Motion. Please, start again.

I beg your pardon. Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion- THAT, the Senate adopts the Report of the Sessional Committee on Delegated Legislation on the consideration of the Public Finance Management (National Government) (Amendment) Regulations, Legal Notice No.89 of 2022, laid on the Table of the Senate on Tuesday, 14th June, 2022, and that pursuant to the provisions of Section 50(2) of the Public Finance Management Act, the Senate approves the amendments to the Public Finance Management (National Government) (Amendment) Regulations, 2015 (Principal Regulations), as effected through Legal Notice No.89 of 2022, thus varying the public debt ceiling to an amount not exceeding Kshs10 trillion. The Public Finance Management (National Government) (Amendment) Regulations, Legal Notice No.89 of 2022 were tabled in the Senate on 7th June, 2022, and

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committed to the Sessional Committee on Delegated Legislation for scrutiny

Sen. Farhiya, proceed.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to second this Motion. We moved the debt ceiling limit in 2018. At that time, the economists had said that we should have moved it to Kshs12 trillion. If we did not do as they proposed, we would review the debt ceiling again before the Senate term ended. I sat in the Committee on Finance and Budget – Sen. Mwaura is also my witness – as they were issuing those proposals. I am glad that the debt ceiling did not move to Kshs12 trillion, but to a lesser limit.

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This Government has been at a time where the world is facing challenges; one of the challenges being COVID-19. The economy did not perform as expected because of COVID-19. If you took a loan, you have to pay back. As much as the revenue fall short of the target, the loans are on the register to be paid periodically. The war in Ukraine started. If it continues, the world will face economic depression, which will impact the world resulting to poverty. As a Committee, when we were looking at this Report, there were submissions that warned us that if we do not increase the debt ceiling limit by one trillion, we will fall short on repayments of loans. The economic impact of that is of great magnitude. I request my colleagues to support this increase. Whether it is the Azimio or

coalitions that will form Government, they will need a year to settle to discuss an increment of debt and other issues. They will have a lot of administrative work to do in running the Government. Let us save them the burden by ensuring that they have some funding to run the Government for the first year. Afterwards, they can make their own decisions. There was also a request to peg the debt ceiling as a proportion of the GDP. This did not materialise because whatever amount they were requesting, was below the threshold. In terms of improvements, we should ensure there is an E-procurement system. We need the right Government to implement that. If that happens, procurement will be transparent to the public. This will also reduce leakage, hence the resources refocused and much more money available to repay debt.

Having said that, in this country, there is improvement in infrastructure. There was a lot of criticism from our colleagues who are on the opposite side on why we are investing in infrastructure.

The other day they were saying they will expand the road network in Kakamega by 1,000 kilometres. From criticising to pledging to expand the road network in Western by 1,000km, we need to be more consistent in what we are saying. Lack of consistency brings a lot of problems when you look at peoples’ manifestos in terms of what they want to achieve.

Compared to the previous regime that was running the National Treasury, the Permanent Secretary (PS) was telling us they have increased the institutional debt to 75 per cent of our external debt. This means the commercial sector and others are only 25 per cent. This was a move in the right direction because international institutional debts are much friendlier in interest rates and have a longer repayment period compared to the commercial debts.

Some work has been done since we last discussed the same debt. However, this does not take away the fact that we need to tighten our belts and be more prudent in using mechanisms such as Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives. Private investors contribute to the economic development of this country. People pay for those services, so that development can be achieved without necessarily increasing the debt.

I thank the Government of His Excellency Uhuru Muigai for passing that Bill to ensure that at least private investors have an avenue to benefit from. One of the opportunities within my own county of Wajir is the perennial power shortages. Without power, you cannot achieve any development. We have a lot of skins and hides in Wajir

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County, but we cannot set up a proper factory if we do not have permanent supply of electricity.

This is one of the opportunities I see for any investor under PPP. I request the people of Wajir County to elect the right visionary leader to take us to that level. The County Government can have a PPP arrangement with other people to supply power using solar system, so that Kenya Power Company (KPC) is charged for the supply. We know the initial investment, which is infrastructure heavy. Once the owner is repaid fully, then the County Government of Wajir can have the residue to continue benefiting while charging KPLC for the supply, so that the town is adequately supplied with power.

We can only do that if we elect a leader who is not only visionary, but who can fight corruption and put every shilling to prudence. The money generated as result of supplying power can be a source of continuous flow of funds to the county government, to further develop that county.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to second and ask our colleagues to support.

Sen. Cherargei, proceed.

Thank you Madam Temporary Speaker. The issue of the Principles and Framework of Public Finance as envisaged under Article 12 of the Constitution is very clear. Article 201 on the Principles of Public Finance, one of them sets the principles to guide all aspects of public finance in the Republic. The key one is that there should be openness and accountability, including public participation in financial matters. Madam Temporary Speaker, there is low confidence among Kenyans on the management of public debt. Kenyans do not have confidence because the managers at the National Treasury and the Government have not done due diligence to inform Kenyans as to why we were raising the public debt to Kshs9trillion in 2019 and we are now moving it to Kshs10 trillion. I remember some seven gallant Senators, and I voted against raising the public debt ceiling at that time. We need to be honest in terms of the confidence. I have looked at the Report. Under Article 203 on equitable share and other financial laws, Article 203 (1) (b) says- “(1) The following criteria shall be taken into account in determining the equitable shares provided for under Article 202 and in all national legislation concerning county government enacted in terms of this Chapter— (b) any provision that must be made in respect of the public debt and other national obligations.” The Government has not been fair enough to inform Kenyans on public debt management. That confidence has not been given to Kenyans. Even as we debate as a Senate on raising the public debt to Kshs10trillion, we do not have the confidence of Kenyans.

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I have seen a preview of the Report prepared by Sen. Faki as the Chairperson, and am happy I mentored him well when he was a Member of the Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights---

There is a point of order from Sen. Faki

Thank you Madam Temporary Speaker. Sen. Cherargei was sworn in as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya in 2020, the same year with my son. He cannot mentor me.

Let me not talk of mentoring; I showed him how work is done. I am happy looking at the reports the Committee has done; they have done what they could. Looking at the circumstances in the country, I have looked at the issue of depreciating Shilling and that increase in price levels may pose a challenge.

We need to tell Kenyans that if the debt ceiling rises, the cost of living will go up. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) will be disclosing the pricing of fuel in the country today, and it will go up. Everything in the Republic including school fees and the cost of doing business will go up. We must generate revenue. As a country, we have a deficit budget. The budget of more than Kshs3trillion plus is in deficit. Madam Temporary Speaker, we must look at the revenue that we need to generate locally to pay off this debt. The road to Shanghai is real. We said it here three years ago that the road to Shanghai is unstoppable and this has become a reality because of the debt that we have as a country. The reason this Committee has given us is not why we need to raise Kshs1 trillion. I voted against it the last time it came to the Senate in 2019. We were being told that it will sustain the country up to 2024. However, we are now being told that it is because of COVID-19 pandemic and that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed. Madam Temporary Speaker, some of us are worried because it looks like we might be going back to the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) of the 1990s, and I know Madam Temporary Speaker is conversant with those days. They want to take us back to Structural Adjustment Programmes. If Hon. (Dr.) William Ruto becomes the President of Kenya and Kenya Kwanza takes over Government, with the permission of Kenyans and God willing, the biggest challenge and struggle that we will face will be how to manage the public debt and restore the confidence of the public. That is why the National Treasury must be honest to the Senate. We have been fighting to get the National Treasury to come here and tell Kenyans what they are doing to manage the public debt. They should tell us about retiring expensive loans. They are taking commercial as opposed to concessional loans. The National Treasury has failed. It has not been open to engage the Senate and Parliament on public debt management. I hope that the Kenya Kwanza government - some of us will be part of it, God willing - will be honest on how we manage the public debt as per the principles of Chapter 12, Article 201 of the Constitution, on openness and public participation in terms of public debt management. Madam Temporary Speaker, my second point is on the issue of sustainability of the public debt. We are being told that we are in the red, but we can borrow because IMF

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has approved. I hope the chairperson of the Committee on Delegated Legislation is listening to this keenly. I know they relocated the Port to your county. It will be interesting to see how your people in Kajiado will behave when the Port is returned to Mombasa. What we are not telling Kenyans is the fact that if we raise the public debt ceiling, it means that taxation will go up. Taxation will go up because we need those taxes. Even reducing the VAT on basic commodities from 16 per cent to 8 per cent will not be possible. Madam Temporary Speaker, in terms of businesses, cement for construction was Kshs550 a few years ago. It is now approaching Kshs1,000. The cost of steel and other building materials has also risen. The other day, Pwani Oil was closing shop. The sad reality is that the Competition Authority of Kenya and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) are sleeping on their job. Do you know why KRA is sleeping? It is because their business is to just close you down, when they find out that you are not paying your taxes. They do not stop to think that they will not get their revenue for the next financial year, if your business is closed down. Madam Temporary Speaker, if you remember, the President of Tanzania, Hon. Samia Suluhu Hassan, told Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) in one of the forums that, if you close a business, it means that their will be no revenue. As we talk today, KRA has closed down Keroche Breweries in Nakuru County. KRA must come up with friendly policies, if we want to improve, in terms of collecting taxes. Kenya Revenue Authority should stop behaving like they are dealing with criminals. Madam Temporary Speaker, you are a senior in our practice and you know that you do not treat taxation matters as criminal. There is a way to handle it as opposed to criminal. If somebody is not paying taxes, you need to encourage them through civic education on why it is important to pay taxes. Why are many Kenyans doing tax evasion? It looks like KRA is not friendly to ensure that we collect more revenue to offset public debt. That is why we need to study the late President Mwai Kibaki. When he came to office in 2002, the revenue that was being collected in Kenya was approximately Kshs200 billion. By the time he left office in 2013, his government was collecting around Kshs1 trillion shillings. We need to borrow a leaf from the late President Mwai Kibaki’s government, even as taxation goes up. We need to be honest to Kenyans. When we raise the public debt ceiling to Kshs10 trillion, everything will go high, including taxation and the cost of living. I do not mean that presidential candidate called Wajackoyah who wants to smoke something that makes one high. Madam Temporary Speaker, my third point is on the Public Private Partnership (PPP). I agree with this one. We need to encourage counties to work on the PPP Act. It has been signed into law. We need to use this PPP Act to finance some of these mega projects. I am disappointed that they have used a wrong example. When this Nairobi Expressway was conceived during the late President Kibaki’s Government, we were told that it was around Kshs30 billion. Are you aware that it is now going to Kshs81 billion?

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To make it even more painful, the contractor of Nairobi Expressway is demanding Kshs9 billion to renovate the Old Mombasa Road. That is how corruption thrives. There is no other name for corruption. They are now demanding Kshs9 billion for the old Mombasa Road, which is in a pathetic state. The drainage is poor and renovations have not been done. The size of the road has been reduced because they have built beams and pillars, yet the contractor has the audacity of demanding an additional Kshs9 billion, to renovate the road that they destroyed. That is how you loose public money in a country. There is no any other explanation. The Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works must tell the country if this project will run to Kshs100 billion. It is now Kshs81 billion and they have demanded an additional Kshs9 billion. Madam Temporary Speaker, on a lighter note, somebody was sharing on social media that if you looked at traffic, everybody was in the old Mombasa Road, whereas there is no traffic on the Nairobi Expressway. It shows you that the economy is doing badly because people cannot pay toll fees. We raised issues the other day here about the design. The Nairobi Expressway has no exits within the City. It is only at the Museum Hill and Bunyala roundabout. However, there are no exits within the CBD, and this is very critical. Madam Temporary Speaker, you might be flying into the country and rushing to come to the House. Where will you exit? You will have to go up to the Museum Hill where there is traffic. This example that the Committee has used should not be used in future. Finally, on e-procurement, I agree with the Mover, Sen. Farhiya, that we need to encourage e-procurement and ensure that when tenders are awarded money must be there and they should link with IFMIS. That is the reason we have pending bills approaching Kshs120 billion. Nandi County Government has a pending bill of Kshs2 billion. What should we do? The pending bill for the national Government is worse. Madam Temporary Speaker, there are many Kenyans walking in the streets, who have gone bankrupt. They are stressed and under depression because their mistake was taking an LPO to do a project of the county government or national Government, but they have not been paid up to date. We must agree that e-procurement will become a solution in terms of awarding tenders in county governments and national Government, so that we deal with this monster called pending bills. When they take the Local Supply Orders (LSOs) and Local Purchase Orders (LPOs) to banks, the banks continue to levy interest on those loans that they gave to finance county projects. Madam Temporary Speaker, counties were set up in 2013. Do not be surprised that even Mombasa County still owes someone ten years down the line. This someone has borrowed money from a bank with his house or land as collateral and security. As a nation, we must agree that it is important that we move to e-procurement, which should then be linked to the Integrated Finance Management and Information System (IFMIS). This will ensure that county governments or the national Government give tenders only when there is money. Looking at the reports, my position still remains the same. As I did in 2019, I also do in 2022; there is no need to raise the public debt ceiling. It is because the cost of

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living, taxation and fuel prices will go up. When taxation and the cost of fuel go up, it means that farmers cannot farm. The price of farm inputs goes up too. I was shocked to hear that the Ukraine-Russia crisis is what has led us to where we are. I do not believe so. I think there are more reasons to it, and we need to be told what really happened. The reason we are buying a bag of fertilizer at Kshs6,000,--- By the way, I saw the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Co-operatives, Hon. Munya, talking in Kisii County. He said that when

takes over Government, as the CS for the same Ministry, he will reduce the price of fertilizer from Kshs6,000 to Kshs2,500. This country is comical! What stops Hon. Munya from doing that now as the CS? Who is fooling who? I agree with Sen. Farhiya that we also need to be open with the country, such that it is our word against facts. I confirm to you that these issues will be sorted when KenyaKwanza takes over Government, under the leadership of Hon. Dr. William Ruto, Hon. Amason Kingi, Hon. Alfred Mutua, Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, Sen. Moses Wetangula and the rest of Kenyans. As I conclude, when the issue of public debt ceiling reappears, I will still vote ‘No.’ As a country, we must be disciplined. You do not borrow from Peter to pay Paul. No! We cannot operate like that. I believe that my brother, Sen. Olekina, being one of the wisest and reasonable Senators, will agree with me. I hope to see him in the next Senate. I know that he has many heavy weights fighting him, but we hope amejipanga because it is not easy. With those many remarks, I will decide when the voting comes.

Sen. Pareno): Sen. (Dr.) Mwaura, you may proceed.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. From the outset, I oppose this increase of the public debt from Kshs9 trillion to Kshs10 trillion. How can we borrow the whole of our nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? In this country, we have been lying to each other about the estimated wealth of this nation. It is very interesting because when I was in the National Assembly in 2014 or 2015 – it can be confirmed – we increased our public debt ceiling from Kshs3 trillion to Kshs4.5 trillion. I was in the Committee on Budget and Appropriations and the understanding that we heard that time, is that it would help the country to move forward. It did not. Then we increased the public debt ceiling from Kshs4.5 trillion to Kshs6 trillion. After that, this House increased it from Kshs6 trillion to Kshs.9 trillion. Now, we are increasing by another Kshs1 trillion. When we look at the bigger picture, it means that within a record nine years, we have increased our public debt from Kshs3 trillion to Kshs10 trillion if this were to pass; a whole Kshs7 trillion. It is not acceptable. What have we done with the Kshs7 trillion? Look at our Budget. Currently, we collect about Kshs1.6 trillion to Kshs1.7 trillion every year. It is not even Kshs2 trillion. We have a national budget of over Kshs3 trillion every year. That is to mean sooner than later, we still have to increase our public debt ceiling. It also means that we are living way beyond our means. Now, they say that devolution is the reason for our ballooning wage bill, but how much do we send to counties? It is less than Kshs400 billion. Even if you were to take that money off the budget, it does not justify why we have a Kshs3 trillion budget. That is not something that we have to live with. Successive governments – be it the Jubilee

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Coalition or the current “handshake” Government – have not been bold enough to just have discipline on how much we spend. We have to live within our means. We have to cut our cloth according to size. Indeed, Madam Temporary Speaker, the population has increased. We are now 50 million strong Kenyans or thereabout. Even then, that does not justify the increase of public debt. The fact that Kenyans give birth to one million children every year does not justify the increase in expenditure. The austerity measures that we have seen the National Treasury trying to do have targeted the expenditures that touch the lives of the common

. This is to the detriment of the various aspects that, of course, make them feel closer to the Government, We are seeing an increase in expenditure around infrastructure. It is gobbling up a lot of public money, yet it is not properly regulated. What is the cost of a kilometre of road? What is the cost of these huge public projects? Is it really feasible to have a Kshs80 billion road? I used it the other day. For sure, I was surprised that it is only 10 minutes from the Airport to Museum Hill. However, is that really the solution to the whole of the Nairobi City County traffic problem? I beg to differ. We now have austerity measures that target insignificant areas. Such areas include for example, providing milk to children, sanitary pads and sunscreen lotions. Those ones are not the issue and they can never be. We have to look at the elephant in the room. Now, look at what our mathematics look like. We are spending about Kshs900 billion on development expenditure. All this is externalised debt. I heard my dear sister, Sen. Farhiya, talk about the new kind of loan. It cannot be any better. Even if loans were only 25 per cent of our debt stock, it does not necessarily mean that we are off the hook. How did we end up in commercial loans? We were cheated that our economy was rebased by 25 per cent, from Kshs7 trillion to Kshs10 trillion. Madam Temporary Speaker, this increase of public debt ceiling by way of regulation is another way of confirming that even when Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) projected that our economy has grown to Kshs10 trillion, we are borrowing everything. It is actually some form of rebasing again. What does that mean to the common mwananchi ? It means that then the Government will have a higher appetite for loans. It means that then local banks and lenders will be more willing to lend to Government than Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve, who may want to start some commercial apartments somewhere. It means that anybody who has finished school and does not want to be employed cannot get a loan from their local bank or credit facility. Is that the way to grow the economy? Madam Temporary Speaker, when you look at what the Government is spending money on, there are so many people who are being paid to the tune of about Kshs700 billion in terms of the wage bill, but also more poignantly, the issue of the developments that are not accruing on investment on the tax payer. I think that is the tragedy of our moment because we were unable to differentiate the separation of the National Treasury as it were and the Ministry of Finance and Planning. That was not supposed to be the case. The Constitution architecture envisaged that they should be different, so that there is proper oversight and separation of responsibilities and powers.

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Madam Temporary Speaker, this issue of public debt cannot be left to regulations. It should be a matter of law that we should be amending a statute to increase our public debt. That is why, as you can see, it is coming at the tail-end of the 12th Parliament, yet even now, we do not have the numbers. It is a serious public debate. People are now trying to survive politically, yet this is the one thing that I would once say without a doubt that the Jubilee administration has gotten wrong. We were not bold enough to reduce the number of state agencies. They are 247 of them. We were not bold enough to recalibrate the budget to accommodate the county governments and cede ground and power as per the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution. The National Government should not perform the roles of the county governments. Right now, when we look at the promises that are being made, like the Kshs6,000 per month for two million or so families it is going to require another Kshs200 billion or more for it to be implemented. Is it workable in such a kind of a budget? It will only call for further borrowing. Madam Temporary Speaker, this public debt as someone may have actually put it, only Kshs1 trillion can only make this Financial Year and the next Financial Year. After about one financial year, we still need to borrow. In fact, projections are that if we do not make significant and radical changes in the next 18 months, we are going the Greece way. This is a very serious debate. We are told about countries like Japan, that they have borrowed over two hundred times of their economy, but produce. I am sure everyone here drives or has ever driven Toyota at some point. Madam Temporary Speaker, in this country, we are more preoccupied with the politics of the day. We hear there is a promise from our competitors that a country will only grow if we have a ballooning or a burgeoning private sector. So, be it. However, it cannot grow when Government is crowding it out over borrowing for nothing. Right now, it is not even clear that these monies that we have borrowed; what is the clear-cut separation between recurrent and development expenditure. Madam Temporary Speaker, the same Public Finance Management (PFM) law requires that 70 per cent of the monies should be recurrent and 30 per cent should be development. A cursory look at how the collective, cumulative budgets of counties are doing is that most counties are doing 88 per cent recurrent and 12 per cent development. That is why if one is contracted by any county government, for you to be paid is a problem. Today, I got a call from a Mr. Oluoch who did some engineering services at Kiambu County Government and has not been paid for over two years. It is just a paltry Kshs1.9 million. Madam Temporary Speaker, we are going to face the same problem. If Parliament was to stump its foot down and refuse to increase the public debt ceiling, it would make the Government to reduce the budget. If it reduces the budget, it would therefore mean that we must now reprioritise that which we require to do because Kenya is not ending. When you look at the budgeting problem, it is because we do it every year, but very few programmes can be completed within the cycle of a financial year of Government. Madam Temporary Speaker, if we are to do what was practised under the late Kibaki’s administration, the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) as it was

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called; it was a three-year resource envelope planning cycle. That way, you are able to do reduce the problem of pending bills. You are able to ensure that you can properly procure in good time and do not have to worry so much about the end of the financial year, where many of the resources are misused. Those government-expending agencies ask for more from the budget rather than actually live within their own means. The consultative process that used to happen in the budget making process has since become academic. People must feel that when they speak to their Government that there is some form in which that their needs are responded to. Madam Temporary Speaker, whatever projects end up implemented are not just an elite capture thing. Where those then who are able to push for that which will give them kick-back and make them millionaires and billionaires overnight is what ends up being in the strategic and work plans of various ministries, departments and agencies. What happens to the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) of various county governments? We do not hear those conversations anymore. Kenyans know what their priorities are. I strongly believe that Parliament has a very great moment in time to refuse to increase this debt ceiling, so that whatever happened in the last Financial Year can happen in the next Financial Year, and then people will start adjusting here and there. That we do not need this or that. Madam Temporary Speaker, I hope and believe that the Executive Order No.1 of 2022 shall reorganise Government in such a manner that it will reduce the recurrent expenditure that is currently gobbling up all of the Kshs3 trillion that we are borrowing. We have refused to put in place the loans and grants council. That statutory body would have ensured we know exactly where we are in terms of public debt. Can you imagine that the public debt register has not been made public? Every time you ask about it, nobody wants to answer that question because it is an elephant in the room. What did we borrow for? Where did that money go to? Who are our lenders? Are these syndicated loans and monies that are syphoned out of Government, then put into offshore accounts, and then borrowed back in the same Government? My heart tells me that is the case. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is immoral for money to be syphoned out of Government, then it finds its way back into commercial banks and the same banks borrow into the same Government. That is highly incestuous. It is actually enslaving the same people who are toiling out there to just put up some few people in plum government positions, ostensibly to protect their right that they end up looking at their kith and kin and own self-survival and perpetuation. That morass is killing our own enterprising entrepreneurs’ spirit, yet Kenya is a robust country that is able to feed its own. Kenya is a country that has enough for everybody. If we do not look at this issue of public debt ceiling, it is going to affect our country. I am on record that in 2014, I warned that in 10 years, there would be no country to run. I was told that I was watching with eloquence that nothing will change, but we must speak the truth. We must speak the truth because can you imagine that on 12th November,1980, Hon. Koigi Wamwere in the National Assembly warned about the Solai Dam that killed so many people.

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Let it be on record that whatever trajectory we are being told to do with this Legal Notice is wrong. We have to stamp our authority and to show the country that we, indeed, are the vanguards of their own future. We are not just accomplices because somebody will say: “Please pass this because tomorrow we will not be able to release monies to you people for Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and for other emoluments we share here in Parliament.” Madam Temporary Speaker, as I conclude, because I can see the indication that my time is ending, I want to say unequivocally that Kenya requires patriots; people who have the best interest of the country in their hearts. The economic model must be relooked up; it must be interrogated. We must ensure that the people at the base of the pyramid end up not becoming handout seekers, which is a left leaning ideology to people who are producers; people who are going to add into and remove from the kitty. That is why I find it novel that the bottom-up economic model’s aim is to ensure that whatever business ideas people have are commercialized and marketed and that they find their way into the market. If we have priorities by counties and allocate about Kshs4 billion for mega county projects around manufacturing and value chain addition, we will spur economic growth and have more to the kitty. We are challenged by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries which collect up to 40 per cent of revenue in terms of the GDP. In Kenya, we were at about 15 per cent, which has gone down because we are over borrowing even the nominal GDP value. When someone says that our economy has grown up to Kshs12 trillion, it is just a way of managing, so that we can get more money to borrow for areas of the economy that may not necessarily be productive. Madam Temporary Speaker, this is an important debate, but I strongly oppose the increase of the public debt ceiling from Kshs9 trillion to Kshs10 trillion. I thank you.

Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve, please proceed.

Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to add my voice to this debate. I would like to thank the Committee led by Sen. Faki for bringing in stakeholders to look at critical issues raised on the Floor of this House and for making their observations. One of the observations is that in 2019, the debt ceiling was Kshs9 trillion, but the projection was up to 2024. It was anticipated that the debt of Kshs9 trillion was enough for smooth running of the country. However, the COVID-19 pandemic came in. We all know the impact of it and what happened because everything slackened. All socio-economic sectors and businesses were affected. For example, tourism and education sectors were affected. It is not only in Kenya that things slackened economically even other parts of the world were also affected. We also have the war in Ukraine that was not predicted. These are disasters that were unforeseeable. With all these disasters, the dollar appreciated which led to depreciating of the Kenyan shilling. It is worth noting that if you have to do any big project, that is if you are not stealing from anywhere, you must take loans. You cannot do a big project without loans. Even when the economy goes down, you have to look for a way of borrowing do mega projects.

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If you have a mega project, it becomes easy to have a collateral even from a bank to continue with it. What I mean is that the debt ceiling for Kenya is high. If it continues to be high, chances of having investors coming to our country would be easy. Madam Temporary Speaker, when it comes to public debt, we should not go beyond Kshs10 trillion. There is need to have mechanisms in place to ensure that public debts are repaid. Proper strategies should be put in place to ensure that big loans are repaid because they attract huge interests. Management of repaying debts is also important. If loans are just taken without a proper strategy of repaying them, then it becomes a harrowing experience. We have to remember that when it comes to paying public debts, the commonman feels the pinch because they are paid using our taxes. That means that if a debt is too huge, taxes go up. It is clear that Kenya is one of the countries globally with very high taxes. Kenyans are feeling it. If the debt ceiling is high, we must put in place strategy that will make it possible for us to ensure that we have a sustainable way of paying off the debts. Madam Temporary Speaker, when taking loans, there are many things to put into consideration. For instance, the risk of having debts. Apart from the risk, there is also the risk of repaying and failure to repay debts. If debts are not repaid, there are consequences which may not be good for the country. Even as the Committee recommends the Kshs10 trillion debt ceiling, there is need to propose that debts must be paid in such a way that the common man is not affected adversely because we are fully aware that unusual circumstances happen like COVID-19. No one knew that COVID-19 pandemic was going to even reach Kenya and even have negative impacts on us. In as much as I support this Motion, my proposition is that there is need to look at the beginning and the end of the debt, so that there is a sustainable way of repaying it without harshly affecting the common wananchi. All of us feel the heat of high taxes and repaying debts. Madam Temporary Speaker, those are my thoughts on this Motion. I support.

Sen.olekina, the Floor is yours.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I raise to support this Motion. Let me begin by saying that in other circumstances, I would not be here supporting the increase of the debt ceiling to Kshs10 trillion. However, when you look at what has been happening in this country over the past few years, we have been hit by serious pandemics. Last year or the year before, we were here arguing on the need to increase the debt ceiling to Kshs9 trillion. There was a heated debate on it. If you look at our debt ratio to GDP in 2019, we were around 58.6 per cent. However, by the end of this year, our debt ratio to GDP is expected to be around 70 per cent. The first question to ask is why? The only simple answer that I can give to Kenyans out there is because of two factors. First, it is because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not quantum physics that COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on the growth of our economy. The second serious issue is what is happening in Ukraine.

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Apart from being a Senator, I am also a farmer. However, just like other world importers, I import wheat and animal feed from Ukraine. I also import soya beans from Uganda and Tanzania. Madam Temporary Speaker, what I was paying for a kilo of soya beans two years ago was only Kshs60. In fact, in some cases, I would be very lucky and I would pay Kshs56. Today, I am paying at minimum, Kshs120. That is double. If you look at what I am selling milk at, it is still almost the same price as I was selling two years ago.

It is imperative and it behoves us to demystify these things to the general public for them to know why we are here talking about the need to either increase or not increase the debt ceiling in this country. We need to make it very basic so that Kenyans can understand. Madam Temporary Speaker, if you go to Narok County right now, the area of Olchorro, Mau, is the most productive area in this country. We have a lot of wheat farms, but we have no roads. If the public wants a road, it just calls for the national Government to spend money to build that road. Where will we get money to spend if the national Government does not have money? Today, we want better hospitals. How will we have better hospitals if the Government does not have money? It then begs the question, is debt good or bad? This is what we should be demystifying for the general public to understand. Madam Temporary Speaker, earlier on when we were talking about the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) in this House, the proposal by National Treasury was that the Government should borrow locally. The effect of borrowing locally is that it would make it very expensive for ordinary folks like us to borrow money from the local banks. This is because the bank will find it much better to lend money to the national Government because their money will be safe. The question that we should be putting out there for people to understand and what we should be asking our people to answer is whether is debt good or bad for this country? I have heard my colleagues from the other side of the aisle arguing that the 27 kilometres Expressway was built through debt, which is not true. That is a Public Private Partnership (PPP). I thank Sen. Faki for taking the time to say what the national Government will do to try to correct and ensure that we can at least manage the debt. Encouraging national and county government to engage in PPPs because that road is built and it is helping us. Today, upon my arrival from outside the country, it took me seven minutes to get to Waiyaki Way. It makes me more productive. Madam Temporary Speaker, when debt is used correctively, it can improve so many things. One is the standard of living of the people of this country. Everyone needs a good road. If we borrow money and build roads, it makes it easier for us to get to where we are going. Those are the issues we should be discussing. What Kenyans ought to know is that what has been ailing this economy is corruption. So, when corruption exists and it continues eating in every Government sector, the economy will be in shambles. I want to reiterate that increasing the national debt will encourage the Government to build roads and bridges. It will also encourage most of our constituents. When they

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see us, they say ‘ Mheshimiwa we do not have electricity, please get us electricity. The Last Mile was only brought to some villages’which is the truth. If you go to Narok County, there are certain areas which are pre-dominated by one ethnic group where even a simple grass-thatched house has electricity. However, on the other part which is pre-dominantly by the people who are the indigenous of that area, there is no electricity. We are calling for proper management of debt. If the debt is there, it can help this country ensure that the people of Shangwe, Lolgorian, Mau, Endesegra and of all the little villages, have electricity. Madam Temporary Speaker, last week, I was in a place called Olchorro. Some of the demands that the locals were asking for during our campaign is that they want electricity. I call the Ministry and Kenya Power and the answer would be ‘we are happy to do the work, but we have no money.’ Yet, here we are today, sitting down and talking and our colleagues are saying we cannot borrow and will not approve any money to be borrowed. Where will we get money to give to Kenya Power to buy transformers to send to those people who want electricity? It is about time that we separate and look at what will help this country develop. If you want good things, you have to be prepared to pay for it. No doubt about it. After a pandemic, the best type of economic model is the demand side economics model which encourages a lot of spending. With proper debt, good roads, good standard of living, people will spend money and the Government will be able to collect taxes and pay. In fact, people will not be in a rush to save money because they know whatever they spend, they will be able to continue earning. If you look at our neighbouring countries, it begs the question because Kenya is the largest economy in the East African (EA) region. By the end of this year, our debt to GDP would be about 70.3 per cent. If you look at our neighbouring country Tanzania, it is about 49 per cent. The question we need to ask ourselves is what is our GDP? Madam Temporary Speaker, if you look at our GDP per capita, it is about US$1,500. If you now look at other countries, it is different. If you look at our economy, we are dealing with an economy of about US$98.9 in billions. Is that the same with other countries? So, we really have to demystify these things. The young students from Kajiado who were here were asking questions about the crisis that is happening between Loliondo and Kenya. I told them that they have to know what is happening in their country because they were concerned about their land. The issue they raised was that because they now live in a group ranch that has not been subdivided. What will happen tomorrow? When the Government borrows money, will it lease our land out to Arabs then we fall victim and our problems will be the same as the ones happening right now with our Maasai brothers in Tanzania? The answer to that was very simple. If we are able to manage our debt and for them to also understand so that they can contribute, then we will never be put in a situation where our land will have to be given out to other foreigners so that the country can continue getting money. It behoves us. I want to encourage all the elected Senators here who will be required to give a vote on this very important thing not to spend the time out in politics trying to confuse

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things out there and say they want to raise the debt ceiling so that they can use that money for campaigns. It is for us to be realistic. The National Treasury seldom sends money when the money is supposed to be sent. Madam Temporary Speaker, we were earlier on discussing the Cash Disbursement Schedule in this House. It is quite seldom that the National Treasury will disburse that money because the money is not there. To the other very important issue in terms of management, my colleagues earlier raised the issue of County Integrated Development Programs (CIDPs) in the county governments. As we are going to this election, it is imperative that the constituents understand the importance of their participation in the CIDPs. Some of us in the Azimio Movement are pushing for a more collaboratory approach between the national Government and the county government in line with the programmes that we are developing. There is no doubt that every county will have its own budget. If the national budget is aligned to the county budget which is informed by the CIDP then everyone will feel the need to ask the right questions. This is because others will say that the Senate is doing its job or they are not seeing any development work going or that have not been paid their salary. Madam Temporary Speaker, you need to figure out and either choose to agree to paly a key role in the development of your county before you even talk about your country. Otherwise, you play a silent role and you will be the first one to complain when the Government is increasing its debt because now the cost of fertilizer has tripled. We were buying fertilizer at Kshs2,000 now, you cannot even find it in the market at Kshs6,000 or Kshs7,000. On the other side you will think that the farmers are not getting money because the bag of maize was Kshs1,500 to Kshs2,500. Now you should be very lucky if you get it at Kshs4,500. We have to be alive to the fact that whatever is happening in this country now requires our collective thinking and to come together. Nobody wants to be overburdened by debt. It is a bit scary to hear that our debt to GDP is around 70.3 per cent. That means that every child who is born owes mostly China. I will advocate and hope I convince my colleagues to approve this Motion so that tomorrow when you go and tell your constituents that you will put a tarmac road when they elect you then you will not be giving hogwash the truth; something that you will follow up This is because the problem we have as politician - and Madam Temporary Speaker, you know I will be preaching to the choir is - that when we are seeking votes, we go and tell them that I will put a tarmac here and I will build a hospital there. When you then come back here and say you will not approve that increase to the debt ceiling, who is going to give you that money? Are you going to sell your cows or land to be able to do it for the public? In conclusion, I reiterate that increasing the debt and making sure that we manage it will help this country to improve the standard of living of our people. I believe that the Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga, coming in as the President will not only solve the problem that the Maasai are facing in Tanzania, but he will also be encouraging

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proper fiduciary responsibility on the side of accounting officers. These officers are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that whatever amount of money they are given by the public is well spend. This is taxpayers’ money. It will not belong to the Rt. Hon. Former Prime Minister Raila Amollo Odinga when he is the 5th President. It is our money. However, he will be able to encourage that collective responsibility to ensure that people can always remember that they are their own brothers’ keepers. That is why when I stand here, I still insist that our cooperation among the countries of the East African Community must always be based on the peace and prosperity; the liberty and freedom of the citizens that are living in those countries. What is happening today in Tanzania; in Loliondo is going to affect Kenya more that it will affect the people of Tanzania. This is because the moment you allow people to poach or kill wild animals next to you and there is no fence, what stops those poachers or those hunters from chasing world animals into the Maasai Mara Game Reserve? I hope that the president of this Republic of Kenya will pay attention to the issue that we are raising. We are not just coming here and talking about it; we are fighting for the rights of the Maasai People, but we are seeing the consequences. If those Maasais who leave in Loliondo are not peaceful and if their land is not reserved for the themselves, then tomorrow they will stress our economy in Narok and Kajiado counties. Even those ones who will be given licenses to hunt in Tanzania even if they are saying that it is 15000 square kilometres, they will bleed through and come all the way to Kenya, especially Narok. There will be no more animals. We are here valuing wild animals than we value human beings. No tourist will come because there will be no more wild animals. They will all be killed just because of greed. Madam Temporary Speaker, you know this because you were once a legislator in the East African Parliament. In the spirit of the East African Community, we can allow diplomacy and sense to prevail and leave the land that belong to the Maasai to remain as such. President Kikwete left that land; the Late President Magufuli preserved that land and we hope that President Suluhu will leave that land for the Maasai. I support and I hope that my colleagues will not only make noise outside for political mileage, but they will come and reason to the public. I support.

I now call upon the Mover to reply.

Asante, Bi. Spika wa Muda. Kwanza ningependa kuwashukuru na kuwapongeza wale wote ambao wamechangia Hoja yetu kwamba Seneti ikubali kuongeza deni mpaka Kshs10 trillion. Maswala ambayo yamezungumziwa na Maseneta wote ni muhimu, lakini ningependa kuguzia kwamba ongezeko hili la deni siyo kwamba wanaongeza deni ila wanaongeza kiwango cha juu ambacho deni inatakikana kufikia ili Serikali iweze kupata pumzi na kukabiliana na bajeti ya mwaka huu wa 2022/2023.

Bi. Spika wa Muda, kulingana na tarakimu ambazo zilisomwa Bungeni, kutakuwa na upungufu wa karibu Kshs800 billion. Hizi zinatakikana ziweze kupata ufadhili ama ulipaji ili ndio bajeti iweze kuwa sawa sawa.

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Iwapo nchi itaweza kupita kiwango chake cha deni cha Kshs9 trillion, itasababisha mkurupuko wa ongezeko la bei. Vile vile shilingi yetu ya Kenya itazidi kudorora dhidi ya dola na hapo itakuwa kizungumkuti katika uchumi wa nchi yetu ya Kenya.

Sababu ambazo zimesababisha ongezeko hili ziko wazi. Uchumi uliadhirika zaidi kutokana na janga la korona kwa muda wa miaka miwili na mpaka sasa zile hatari za korona zinaendelea kuadhiri uchumi wetu. Vile vile, swala la vita kati ya Urusi na Ukraine limechangia pakubwa sana kwa sababu kulikuwa na bidhaa nyingi kwa mfano mafuta ambayo bei yake inaendelea kuongezeka na pia bei ya bidhaa kama chakula na mbolea ambazo zinatoka sehemu ya Ukraine zimeongezeka maradufu.

Bi. Spika wa Muda, kwa hivyo inamaanisha nchi haitaweza kutumia fedha nyingi zaidi kukopa na kuweza kuagiza bidhaa ambazo hazipatikani hapa nchini Kenya. Jambo lingine ni kwamba sarafu ya dola pia imeimarika kiuchumi. Ina maana ya kwamba shilingi yetu itazidi kudorora dhidi ya dola mpaka wakati uchumi wetu utaimarika.

Sen. Mwaura amesema haimanishi kwamba kama kuna mkurupuko ama ongezeko la idadi ya watu inamaanisha pia kuna ongezeko la matumizi. Hilo ni swala ambalo liko wazi. Wale watoto wanaozaliwa watahitaji shule na matibabu. Kwa hivyo, ikiwa tulikuwa na hospitali za kutibu watu hamsini na tuna watu mia moja inamaanisha ni lazima tuongeze idadi ya hospital ama uwezo wa hospitali zile kuweza kuhudumia watu mia moja.

Bi. Spika wa Muda, si ukweli kwamba ongezeko la watu halimaanishi ni ongezeko la matumizi ya Serikali. Watu wale wanahitaji shule, masoko, barabara za kupita na usalama. Huduma zote zinaotolewa na Serikali zinaongezeka wakati ongezeko la wananchi katika nchi linapoongezeka. Sio kweli kwamba bajeti itakuwa ile ile. Ikiwa bajeti ni ile ile inamaanisha uchumi haukui. Kama uchumi haukui ina maana tutakuwa tuko sehemu ile ile ya maendeleo kuliko vile ambavyo ingefanyika kama uchumi ungekua unakua.

Swala la ufisadi ni donda sugu. Kuna baadhi ya watu katika Serikali ambao wameshtakiwa tayari kwa maswala ya ufisadi. Tunajua kuna kesi ambazo ziko mbele ya mahakama kuhusiana na mabwawa ya Kimwarer na Arror. Pesa zote zilitumiwa katika miradi ile ni za kukopa. Mradi haujafanyika mpaka sasa. Kwa hivyo, ina maana kwamba Serikali inalipa mkopo wakati pesa ambazo zilitumika kwenye mkopo hazikutumika kisawasawa kiuchumi.

Bi. Spika wa Muda, baadhi ya mikopo imekwenda katika mifuko ambayo haikustahili na tunakubali hiyo. Lakini, hiyo haimaanishi kwamba tuikataze Serikali kuw na pumzi za kupata mikopo ingine ili waweze kuendeleza maendeleo katika nchi yetu.

Nampongeza Sen. (Dr.) Musuruve kwa mchango wake. Sen. Olekina pia amechangia kwa ufasaha zaidi swala hii kwamba uchumi uliadhiriwa na korona na kwa mazingara mabaya ya nchi baada ya korona. Uchumi unaendelea kuadhirika sababu ya vita baina ya Ukraine na Urusi. Uchumi umeadhirika kwa sababu dola ni sarafu ambayo imeimarika kiuchumi ulimwengu mzima. Hii ina maana zile sarafu zingine bado zitakuwa zinapata shida kushindana na dola kikamilifu.

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Bi. Spika wa Muda, haya maswala mengine ni ya uchumi wa ulimwengu. Kwa mfano, tatizo la ongezeko la bei za chakula. Hili tatizo haliadhiri Kenya peke yake. Linaadhiri nchi zote ulimwenguni. Tatizo la ongezeko la bei ya mafuta haliadhiri Kenya peke yake. Linaadhiri nchi zote hususan zile nchi ambazo zinandelea.

Haya ni maswala ambayo yanatakikana yaangaliwe kwa mtazamo wa uchumi wa ulimwengu. Katika majadiliano yetu na wizara ya fedha, walikubali kwamba maswala haya yataangaliwa na kutakua mkutano hivi karibuni Morocco ambapo swala hili la uchumi wa ulimwengu na uongezekaji wa bei za bidhaa utajadiliwa.

Bi. Spika wa Muda, ningependa kukubaliana na Sen. Olekina kwamba swala lolote ambalo litaadhiri uchumi, mazingara ama binadamu katika jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki ni swala ambalo linaadhiri nchi zote za Afrika Mashariki. Tunaomba Rais wetu aingilie swala hili na aangalie yale mambo ambayo yanafanyika Loliondo. Hivi karibuni, Loliondo ilisifika kwa dawa ya Babu aliyekua kasisi na alikua akitibu watu na chai yake aliyokua akichemsha. Watu wengi walikua wakienda Loliondo kwa swala hili. Sasa tunaambiwa ya kwamba Loliondo kumeingia maswala ya kuhamishwa kwa Wamaasai. Tunajua Wamaasai wako Kenya na Tanzania. Nafikiri wako pia Uganda. Ni jamii moja hatuwezi kuifungia macho wakati inapata shida. Bi. Spika wa Muda, nasihi Maseneta wenzangu tupitishe Mswada huu kwa sababu utaipa Serikali nafasi ya kujipanga. Tunajua tuna uchaguzi mnamo tarehe tisa mwezi wa nane na Serikali inayoondoka haiwezi kuachia Serikali ingine jukumu ambalo litakua nzito kwao. Tunajua kwamba bajeti ishapitishwa na iliyobakia ni Serikali ni kujizatiti kuhakikisha kwamba bajeti ile inatekelezwa kikamilifu. Tunajua kati ya sasa na mwezi wa nane, kutakuwa hakuna Bunge. Bunge la Kitaifa tayari limeairishwa kwa mara ya mwisho ili kwenda katika uchaguzi. Pia Bunge la Seneti litahairishwa Alhamisi hii. Kati ya sasa na mwezi wa nane, tarehe tisa, kabla ya Bunge jipya kuchaguliwa kutakuwa hakuna Bunge na itakua ni hatari kuacha swala hili likiwa bado halijatatuliwa. Bi. Spika wa Muda, hapo awali kulikuwa na Mswada mwingine ambao ulichapishwa kwa mjadala ambapo walitaka kuongeza hii kiwango kifikie asilimia sitini na tano ya GDP yetu. Tulipojadiliana, tuliona tayari wako katika asilimia sitini na nne nukta tisa. Kwa hivyo, ikiwa wataongeza iwe sitini na tano itamaanisha ile Serikali ambayo itaingia itakua ni pointi moja ya nukta itakuwa imebakia ili kujaza pengo hilo. Tukiangalia hivi sasa, deni la Serikali liko katika Kshs8.7 trillion kufikia mwisho wa mwezi huu wa sita. Iwapo tungekubaliana ni lile swala la maongezeko yao ya awali ina maana kungekukuwa hakuna ongezeko lolote ambalo tumeongeza katika kiwango cha juu cha deni. Tumeona hili ongezeko litaipa Serikali pumzi ili kusaidia kudhibiti uchumi kwa sasa kitambo Serikali ijipange na mambo mengine. Bi. Spika wa Muda, tumeona ipo nia kuweza kuhakikisha deni linadhibitiwa. Bi. Spika wa Muda, tumeona tayari miradi imeanza kufanyika chini ya sheria za Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) ambayo tulipitisha hapa. Mradi wa Nairobi Expressway tayari umekamilika na sasa unatumika. Miradi mingine kama hiyo pia itaanzishwa. Kwa mfano, barabara ya kutoka Westlands kwenda mpaka Mau Summit. Kwa hivyo, pesa ambazo zingetumika katika miradi kama hiyo, sasa itakuwa inatoka kwa wafadhili moja kwa moja. Wafadhili nao watapata fursa ya kusimamia hiyo

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miradi mpaka wajilipe deni zao. Ya Serikali itakuwa tu kuhakikisha zile pesa zinatumika vizuri na pia kudhibiti pesa ambazo mwekezaji atajilipa. Serikali sasa haitakuwa na mamlaka ya kutoa huduma kwa barabara kubwa kama hizo. Hili litakuwa jukumu la wawekezaji. Mpango huu utasaidia pakubwa kuufufua uchumi wetu. Hatimaye, pesa ambazo zingewekezwa katika miradi kama hii, zitawekezwa katika sekta mbalimbali za huduma kwa wananchi, ili tupate maendeleo haraka. Bi. Spika wa Muda, kejeli zimetolewa hapa kwamba Serikali ya “handshake” ndio imesababisha mambo haya. Mambo haya yalikuwepo kutoka awamu ya kwanza ya Serikali hii iliyoko. Baada ya Rais Kenyatta na Mhesh. Raila Odinga kuja pamoja, ndio maswala, ikiwamo uchumi, yakadhibitiwa. Vita dhidi ya ufisadi vikapamba moto. Wengi wanaolalamika kwa sasa wanalalamika kwa sababu wameona kwamba ile mifereji yao ya kupora pesa ya Serikali imefungwa. Bi Spika wa Muda, nikimalizia, naomba uhairishe kupiga kura kwa swala hili mpaka kesho. Hii ni kulingana na Kifungu cha 61(3) cha Kanuni za Bunge la Seneti.

Itabidi sasa tuzungumze Kiswahili. Kwanza niliangalia kama unaruhusiwa kuanza kwa Kiingereza kisha kujibu kwa Kiswahili. Nikaona kwamba ni kweli Kanuni zetu zinaruhusu namna hiyo. Kulingana na ombi lako, kupiga kura kwa swala hili kumehairishwa mpaka kesho.

Next Order.

Hon. Senators, we are doing Committee of the Whole on the Community Groups Registration Bill (National Assembly Bills No.20 of 2021).

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

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Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end. Hon. Senators, we proceed to report progress by the Committee of the Whole on the Community Groups Registration Bill (National Assembly Bills No. 20 of 2021). Mover, proceed.

Madam Temporary Chairperson, pursuant to Standing Order No.148, I beg to move that the Committee of the Whole do report progress on its consideration of the Community Groups Registration Bill (National Assembly Bills No.20 of 2021) and seek leave to sit again tomorrow.

Hon. Senators, we are doing the Committee of the Whole on the Landlord and Tenant Bill (National Assembly Bills No.3 of 2021).

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

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Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Madam Temporary Chairperson, pursuant to Standing Orders No.148, I beg to move that the Committee of the Whole do report progress on its consideration of the Landlord and Tenant and Tenant Bill (National Assembly Bills No. 3 of 2021) and seek leave to sit again tomorrow.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

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Division will be at the end.

Madam Temporary Chairperson, pursuant to Standing Order No.148, I beg to move that the Committee of the Whole do report progress on its consideration of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bills of No. 32 of 2021) and seek leave to sit again tomorrow.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Hon. Chairperson, pursuant Standing Order No. 148, I beg to move that the Committee of the Whole do report progress on its consideration of the Sacco Societies (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bills No.55 of 2021) and seek leave to sit again tomorrow.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Division will be at the end.

Madam Temporary Chairperson, pursuant Standing Order No. 148, I beg to move that the Committee of the Whole do report progress on its consideration of the Sustainable Waste Management Bills (National Assembly Bills No.22 of 2021) and seek leave to sit again tomorrow.

Let us have the Chairperson. Sen. Faki, proceed.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to report that the Committee of the Whole has considered the Community Groups Registration Bill, (National Assembly Bills No.20 of 2021) and seeks leave to sit again tomorrow. I ask Sen. Poghisio to second.

We are not yet there. That was for the Chairperson. We need to have the Mover who will ask someone to second. Let us have the Mover who is Sen. Poghisio.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Committee on the said report. I request Sen. Faki to second.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I second.

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Let us have the Chairperson.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to report that the Committee of the Whole has considered the Landlord and Tenant Bill (National Assembly Bills No.3 of 2021) and seeks leave to sit again tomorrow.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Committee on the said report. I request Sen. Faki to second.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I second.

Let us have the Chairperson.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to report that the Committee of the Whole has considered the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bills No.32 of 2021) and seeks leave to sit again tomorrow.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Committee on the said report. I request Sen. Faki to second.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I second.

Let us have Chairperson.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to report that the Committee of the Whole has considered the SACCO Societies (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 55 of 2021) and seeks leave to sit again tomorrow.

Mover, proceed.

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Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to Move that he House do agree with the Committee on the said report. I move and ask Sen. Faki to second.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I second.

Next.

Chairperson, please report.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to report that the Committee of the Whole has considered the Sustainable Waste Management Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 22 of 2021) and seeks leave to sit again tomorrow.

Mover, proceed.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to Move that he House do agree with the Committee on the said report. I ask Sen. Faki to second.

Madam Temporary Speaker, I second.

Hon. Senators, having rearranged the Order Paper, I, therefore, now proceed to defer Order Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 20 to another date.

Hon. Senators, there being no other business on the Order Paper, the House stands adjourned until, Wednesday, 15th June, 2022 at 2.30 p.m.

The Senate rose at 6.18 p.m.

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